MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- After getting off to a bit of a slow start, the Medicine Hat Tigers have found themselves making a steady climb up the Eastern Conference standings over the last month.
The same can’t be said about the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The teams met on Friday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, and those two trajectories could be seen in the final result.
The Tigers scored twice in each of the first and second periods and would go on to a 5-1 victory in Western Hockey League action.
Medicine Hat improved to 18-13-1-0 and remain in second place with their second-straight win, while the Warriors suffered their fifth-straight loss and remain in 11th place in the Conference.
The Tigers were without WHL scoring leader Gavin McKenna, one of eight players named to Team Canada for the World Juniors earlier in the day, but that mattered little to their offence.
Medicine Hat’s Hunter St. Martin opened scoring with 4:01 to play in the opening frame, with his goal giving him 21 on the season to sit tied for sixth in the WHL in that category.
Bryce Pickford then made it 2-0 a little under three minutes later with what would stand as the game-winning goal.
The Tigers’ Jonas Woo extended the lead with a seeing-eyed show from the point 7:30 into the second period, and 58 seconds after that marker, it was 4-0 thanks to a goal from Andrew Basha.
That marked the end of the night for Warriors goaltender Brady Smith, who stopped 24 shots in 28:28 of work, with Josh Banini taking over in net.
The Warriors would get one back on the power play with 4:09 gone in the third period, with Aiden Ziprick doing the honours. The veteran defenceman hammered home a one-timer from Rilen Kovacevic for his sixth goal of the season after scoring once all of last year.
Ryder Ritchie replied for Medicine Hat 1:27 later, though, capping scoring on the night.
Basha and Ritchie each finished with a goal and three points and were named the first and second stars respectively, while Ziprick took third star honours.
Oasiz Weisblatt also contributed a pair of assists.
Banini turned aside 18 shots in his period-and-a-half of work, Jordan Switzer stopped 25 shots for the Tigers.
The Warriors will look to return to the win column on Saturday night when they travel to Regina to face the Pats in the latest edition of the Trans-Canada Clash. Puck drop is 6 p.m. in Regina.
The Tigers return home to face Brayden Yager, Jackson Unger and the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday night, with Lethbridge having won four straight since the blockbuster trade with the Warriors.
